Laughter AND Enduring???? Say What? :)

First off my blog is fixed! Yay! Im so excited for this! Lots of people have asked me to blog my experiences. Some of them are really tender so its been a long hard comtemplation but I know I have learned a lot thru them so maybe others can as well. I will start blogging some of them but please be patient with me as some are tender as I said and will take some courage!

But tonight lets chat about the ol' title laughter and enduring! Can you have both? As you walk down my stairs in my house I have this saying that many of you have heard before. It reads "In all living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed not just endured." Now whats kinda ironic about the spot where this is and it totally was not planned this way is that its what I look at each time I am working out.

So as I was dieing with my pushups and sit ups tonight I kept re-reading Life is to be enjoyed NOT just endured! I thought really? Im working out and it hurts! This is NOT enjoyment my friend! But then the craziest thing happened and I looked at myself. I know weird right? But I seriously pictured myself attempting these crunches and push ups and squats and then I thought I wonder what others would be thinking if they saw me right now! Lets be honest, we know how uncoordinated I am and I just started to laugh hysterically at how ridiculous I must have looked at the moment!

It was in that moment that I was reminded of how to have enjoyment during enduring times. We need to remember to LAUGH and for me its usually laughing at myself. But seriously friends it works! I have gone thru some hard times in my life and looking back what has gotten me thru them is when I was focusing on the positive moments.

Life is kind of crazy right now! Lately I feel as if my plate keeps piling higher and higher. Two weeks ago I went into freak out mode (thanks for amazing family and friends for listening) but after more was piled on I can only Laugh about the craziness! Now its kind of an exciting game and challenge for me to push thru to victory. Im like what another assignment? Well of course its another assignment. Im looking forward to what the next thing is that I will have to do! Im excited to prove to myself that I am strong enough to handle it! Cause we are only handed in life what we can handle. So even though I may complain I really need to step back and keep remembering that deep down I have the strength and ability to handle all this and if we look at it that way thats pretty cool that we can handle all that! :)

We will always be enduring! Thats the facts of life! If we are not enduring then we are not progressing and in the end if we are not progressing then that seriously would not be a laughing matter! :) So I say bring on the endurance and never let the laughter die out! Up the laughter and when you look back the endurance will be but a small task in eternal perspective of things! 

So when you see me laughing yes it is mostly because Im crazy but also because I know Im enduring and conquering and progressing which means in turn that Im living life to the fullest! :)

Compassion

So I have not kept up with my blog as I had originally intended to do. Surprise Surprise! In all honesty I couldn't figure out how to find it after the fact! I am not the most technological savy person I know! lol But now that I think I have it figured out I intend to be better at writing on it and catching up on all the exciting and interesting and though provoking things that have gone in my life. Tonight however compassion has been on my mind a lot lately and I pondered it quite a bit while working in the temple tonight. What is compassion? and how do we gain true compassion for others? I have this amazing friend who has demonstrated what true compassion is. She is working full time, going to school, has tons of family obligations, yet she always seem to find a moment to reach out to others and be there for them at all costs. Most recently she has been given a pretty time consuming church calling and a sister moved into her ward who was suffering from cancer and passed away today. It has been really heart wrenching to all. My friend has now stepped in to not only continue to do what she has been doing but now to literally bear the burdens of others, mourn with those that are mourning and comforting those who stand in need of comfort. As I have sat and pondered her example I have realized how much more I can learn on being more compassionate. Compassion is not only verbage of something but an action as well. It truly is when we loose ourselves in the service of others that we can see and feel how God feels. I have also pondered another friend who has become another mom to me. I was a stranger to their family and showed up at their house and stayed with them for ten days. From day one she welcomed me with open arms and included me in on everything. Over the next 10 days we discussed everything under the sun. I realized just how sincere and real she is and it has been manifested in the way she is so compassionate to her children, to me, and to all those who come in contact with her. I am realizing tonight how much I lack in true compassion and how grateful I am for these two examples and many more in my life. I want to strive to be better at exemplifying my Saviors example and I want to be more of a doer in my compassion efforts. For in giving service to others is where true happiness develops in our lives. I will forever be indebted and grateful for the continual examples in my life that help show me my potential! :)

The Beginning!!

My Dear Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and whomever else is venturing onto this site to read,

 I have finally succumb to the ways of the bloggers and have created a blog of my own. Many people I know have blogs and after finding myself being written about from their perspective of my many crazy adventures I have decided that these outings should be relayed to you all first handed. I sort of feel like Julie from the movie Julie and Julia when she finds herself being talked about on her friend's blog. No worries this is NOT your next cooking/recipe blog though I may throw a few up here once in awhile. Another reason I have decided to blog is because I have found many blogs that I have read to be inspiring. A close friend of mine was happily living her life feeling accepted where she was living and with the people she was meeting then one day she was forced to move without any warning. As she talked through her experience of having her life turned upside down in one night and starting over three weeks later she lifted my spirits in so many ways. Through this blog I hope to not only tell my adventures and stories from a first hand perspective but to maybe also write something that would touch or inspire one of you some day. I may had in a poem or bits of a story I am working on, lots of pictures to add to the lack of wording :), lots of humor, and if you are lucky I really will add a recipe or two. Happy readings and hope this journey is a joy for not only the writer but for all who reads it!